Tube-cleaning apparatus



. 1,588,772 C. RORABECK TUBE CLEANING APPARATUS Filed 061;.v 2l, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l uTllln-h .Ulla A ww 4 l o .Aim

June 15 1926'.

June l5 1926. 1,588,772

c. RORABECK TUBE CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 21, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 15, 1926.

' UNITEDVSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLAUDE RORABECK, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO INLAND ENG"- NEERING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

' TUBE-CLEANING APPARATUS.

.Application filed October 21, 1921.

This invention relates in general to apparatus lfor cleaning such articles as tubes, pipes, shafts and the like, and has more specilic reference to an improved arrangement and action of the rollers by which the articles are cleaned.

A principal object of the invention is the provision off cfhcient means for exerting variable tractive force upon the tube, or other article, to draw it through the machine with-out the nicety of adjustment and exact relative size of said rollers, which has been found necessary in other types of machinos.

A further object of the invention is the provision, in a tube cleaning machine, of cleaning and polishing rollers of different pressure upon the tube whereby both the removing of the rust or scale and the polishing of the tube may be more efficiently done than has heretofore been found possible.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for causing one of the rollers to maintain constant operative contact with the surface of the tube, regardless of the irregularities in the contour thereof.

Still another object of the invention is the provision, in tube cleaning apparatus,

(l of two driving rollers having different pressure and action upon the surface of the tube, and being arranged to co-operate with a third driven roller whereby thel latter and one of the driving rollers act in advance of the other driving roller to remove substantially all the dirt prior to the action of said last mentioned roller.

' Another and highly important object of the invention is the provision of means for misaligning theaxis of one or more of the rollers with respect to the axes of the others, for the purpose of exerting tractive force on the tube, and of causing a different action thereon by the roller having the misaligned axis.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of apparatus of this character adapted, by a simple substitution of parts, to be used for cutting the tube to remove defective parts or to provide desired lengths.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent., asit is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with serial No. 509,314.

the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredV embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is an end elevation of an apparatus embodying the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line l: of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a cutting roller adapted to be substituted for one of the rollers shown in Fig. 1.

preferred form of apparatus, constructed in accordance with my invention, comprises primarily, as shown in the drawings, a supporting frame 11 having a guiding yoke 12 secured thereto by means of bolts 13, and a pluralityof rollers 14, 15 "l and 16 mounted in after described.

The roller 14 is carried on a. short shaft 17 having bearings in a journal 18 and is held in place by means of nuts 19 and 21. Extending through and secured in a bearing 22, held in the journal 18, is a screw head 23 carried by a through the yoke 12 of a hand wheel `25. able on guides 26 in a mannerto be hereinand operable by means The journal 18 is slidthe yoke 12 and is thus adjustable, being carried by the screw head 23. Screws 27, extending through a crosshead 28, bear upon the shaft 17, and adjustment of these screws `accurately controls the v position of the shaft which forms theI axis of the roller 141.

It will be noted by reference to Figs. 1 and 2 that I have provided a spring 29, positioned in a recess 31 in the journal 18 and under compression of the screw head 23. The purpose of this spring is to cause constant tension upon the roller 14, so that the latter will continuously maintain its contact with the tube 32. It will be under-` stood, however, that for certain purposes it may be desirable to omit the spring 29 and that this might be done without in any way interfering with the operativeness of the apparatus, since suficient clearance is provided to permit the screwhead 23' to bear directly upon the crosshead 28.

The rollers 15 and 16 are positioned beneath the roller 14 and in such relativerarrangement with respect thereto thatythe screw sha-ft 24: threaded tube 3Q may be received between the three rollers and operated upon in a manner to be hereinatter described. Said rollers 15 and 16 are carried on shatts 33 and 8st journaled in a journal box 35 in the lower part ot 'the trame, and are both drivingl rollers, being rotated in a manner which may be readily understood by reterence to Figs. Q and 4l. At pulley 36 is carried on a stub shatt 3T having bearings in the lower part ot the journal bor: 35, and this shatt 3T carries also a large spur gear 3S. rl`he pulley 36 is connected with a suitable source ot power, and rotation ot the gear 3S which vis keyed at 39 onto the shat't 3T, rotates also pinions 41 and keyed at and all: onto the roller shafts 33 and rlhe rollers 15 and 1G are secured on the shatts 33 and 3s and held in place by nuts a5 and 4.6 and are rotated through the mechanism just described to act upon the tube 32. The resultingeffect upon the tube will be understood trom a consideration of the construction and relative arrangement ot the rollers.

Referring to Fig. 1, attention is called 'to the tact that the rollers 11i and 15 are arranged on ay more direct line with respect to the center ot the tube 32 than are the rollers lil and 1G. ylhis results in a greater rolling` pressure between the rollers 141 and 15 and a lighter pressure. upon the roller '16. The rollers 14.- and 15 are grooved to provide flanges l-T, o'liV which there are preferably at least i'our in number. These rollers are positioned slightly in advance ot the roller 16 and remove the principal part oi' the dirt, rust or scale from the sur'lace ot the tube prior to the action ot the roller 1G thereon. The roller 1G is provided with helical teeth [t8 and is not grooved as are the other rollers. The teeth 41S have a polishing effect on the tube and itv will be observed that this roller 16 is ol' larger diameter than the others, thereby giving a ditiierent surface speed.

ln order to cause the tube to travel through the apparatus, l preter to arrange at least one of the rollers in non-parallel rclation whereby a tractive torce is exerted upon the tube. rthis is accomplished by means ot adjustment ot the screws Q7, and it will be apparent that the horizontal position ot the roller 1s*- may be varied to provide tor any desired speed ot travel ot the tube. rthis may be readily done by loosening said screws and retightening them upon the shatt after the latter has been moved to its adjusted position, slots being provided. in the part 28 ot the ljournal box 1S to permit this adjustment. The roller havingv the misaligned axis is also caused to have a ditlerent action upon the tube surface, the tilted position causing the flanges 17 to perform a polishing operan tion. rEhe head 28 is angularly arranged and movement of the shaft axis with the head angularity preserves the active element of the roller in contact with the tube 3Q.

lt frequently becomes desirable in operating upon tubes and other articles, which my apparatus is designed to treat, to cut said articles into predetermined lengths or to remove detective portions thereof. For this purpose l. provide a cutting roller t9 having a thin blade 51 ot extremely hard material, this roller being capable ot substitution tor one ot the other rollers in a manner which will be readily understood. tt will be realized, ot course, that for a cutting operation the various rollers must be arranged in parallelism to hold the tube in stationary position.

lt is thought that the invention and many ot its attendant advantages will be understood trom the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may 3e made in the form, construction and arrangement ot the parts without departing Jfrom the spirit and scope ot the invention or sacrificing all ot its material advantages, the term hereinbetore described being` merely a preferred embodiment thereof. i

l claim: 1. rIube cleaning apparatus, comprising, in combination, two driving rollers and one driven roller relatively mounted to receive between them and operate on a tube to be cleaned, one of said driving rollers being adapted i`or polishing and having less pressure thereon than is exerted on said other rollers. n 2. Tube cleaning' apparatus, comprising, 1n combination, an adjustable driven roller, a driving roller and a driving, polishing roller, said rollers being relatively arranged to receive and pass a tube tor cleaning therebetween and a `greater rolling pressure being exerted on said tube between said driving and driven rollers than between said driving,

aolishing and driven rollers. n 3. Tube cleaning apparatus, comprising, in combination, a driven roller and two driving rollers adapted to receive a tube for cleaning therebetween, one ot said driving rollers being constructed to have a polishing action on said tube and having an axis at a less angle with respect to a line between the center ol; said tube and the axis ot said driven roller than the angle between said line and the axis ot said other driving roller. 4i. rlube cleaning' apparatus, comprising, in combination, a driven roller, a driving roller opposed thereto and a polishing roller arranged at a sufficient angle with respect to the line between said driven and driving rollers to cause less pressure thereon by a tube positioned between said rollers than is eX- erted on said driving roller. 5. Tube cleaning apparatus, comprising, 1n combination, an adjustable driven roller, a driving roller, a driving polishing roller,

llO

said rollers being arranged to receive and rotate a tube for cleaning therebetween, and means for varying the relative pressure of said tube upon said driving roller and said driving, polishing roller.

Tube cleaning apparatus, comprising a plurality of rollers that act on the tube, yone of said rollers being adjustable to alter the angular relation between its axis and the axes of other rollers, a bearing for said tube, said bearing and adjustment being' adapted to preserve the operative element of the roller in contact with the tube.

7. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, a driving roller, a driven roller, a driving polishing roller arranged to receve and rotate a tube between them to remove scale or rust from the surface thereof, and means for adjust-ing said drive-n roller to misalign the axis thereof with respect to the axes of the other rollers to exert a tractive force upon the tube.

8. A machine for cleaning` tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, a driving roller, a driven roller, a driving polishing roller arranged to receive and rotate a tube between them to remove scale or rust from the surface thereof, and means for adjusting said driven roller to misalign the axis thereof with respect to the axes of the Aother rollers to exert a tractive force upon the tube, said driving and driven rollers having cleaning flanges thereon.

9. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, a driving roller, a driven roller, a driving polishing roller arranged to receive and rotate a tube between them to remove scale or rust from the surface thereof, and means for adjusting said driven roller to niisalign the axis thereof with respect to the axes `of the other rollers to exert a tractive force upon the tube, said driving and driven rollers having circumferential cleaning flanges thereon.

l0. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising', in combination, a driving roller, a driven roller, a. driving polishing roller arranged to receive and rotate a tube between them to remove scale or rust from the surface thereof, and means for adjusting said driven roller to misalign the axis thereof with respect to the axes of the other rollers to exert a tractive force upon the tube, said driving and driven rollers having four or more circun'iferential cleaning flanges thereon.

lll. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, a driving roller, a driven roller, a driving polishing roller arranged to receive and rotate a tube between them to remove scale or rust from the surface thereof, and means for adjusting said driven roller to misalign the axis thereof with respect to the axes of the other rollers to exert a tractive force upon the tube, said ldriving and driven rollers having circumferential cleaning flanges thereon and said driving polishing roller having helical teeth thereon.

l2. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, two driving rollers adapted to support a tube to be cleaned thereon, one of said rollers having a polishing surface, a driven roller disposed above said driving rollers and adapted to exert pressure upon the tube to rotate the same between the rollers to effect a cleaning and polishing action thereon, and means for adjusting said upper driven roller to arrange it in non-parallel relation with respect to the other rollers whereby a tractive force is exerted upon the tube as the rollers are rotated to feed it longitudinally.

v 13. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, two driving roll-ers adapted to support a tube to be cleaned thereon, one of said rollers having a polishing surface, a driven roller disposed above said driving rollers and adapted to exert pressure upon the tube to rotate the same between the rollers to effect a cleaning and polishing action thereon, and means for adjusting said upper driven roller to ar ange it in non-parallel relation with respect to the yother rollers whereby a tractive force is exerted upon the tube as the rollers are rotated to feed it longitudinally, said polishing roller being disposed behind said other two rollers.

lll. A machine for cleaning tubes and the like, comprising, in combination, two driving rollers adapted to support a tube to be cleaned thereon, one vof said rollers having a polishing surface, a driven roller disposed above said driving rollers and adapted to exert pressure upon the tube to rotate the same between the rollers to effect a cleaning and polishing action thereon, means for adjusting said-upper driven roller to arrange it in non-parallel relation with respect to the other rollers whereby a tractive force is exerted upon the tube as the rollers are rotated to feed it longitudinally, and adjustable means including a spring for maintaining pIdetermined yielding pressure upon the tu ee.

C. RORABECK. 

